|
People Who Abuse the System |
|
|
|
|
Written by Maddi
|
|
A Welfare Reform contract was created in 1965 between the United States Government and the American people. It did not work very well, encouraging dependency on the program, and thirty-one years later, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) replaced it. Both Acts were designed to improve the role of the state in Welfare policy, helping those in need while alleviating unnecessary spending on those abusing the program. How many of you know someone who abuses the Welfare system? Under the original program of 1965, the Personal Responsibility Act (PRA) included clauses that were created to reduce teenage pregnancies and illegitimate births. For example, if an unwed mother was a minor, she did not qualify for an apartment, or other housing, and was refused Aid unless she lived at home and named the father of the child so that he could be sought out and forced to share the responsibility. Additionally, Aid was intended to be halted when the recipient had more illegitimate children, or failed to be employed. Thirty years later, the country was providing (an increasing) billions upon billions of dollars each year to Welfare recipients in part because the states were not doing their part to implement these goals. The PRWORA replaced Aid to Families with Dependant Children (AFDC) which allowed for long-term dependence on Welfare, with Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) in 1996. This alleviated some of the strain on tax payers when it focused more intensely on reducing the number of recipients and increasing employment, reducing child poverty, and strengthening marriage—reducing out-of-wedlock childbearing. It is noted that there has been an over 50% decrease in welfare caseloads since TANF began. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the four goals of TANF are:
- assisting needy families so that children can be cared for in their own homes
- reducing the dependency of needy parents by promoting job preparation, work and marriage
- preventing out-of-wedlock pregnancies
- encouraging the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.
In 2007, $16.5 billion was set aside to be distributed between the states for this program. In order to reduce welfare dependence, it is up to the states to implement the goals of the policy, and up to the users to not misuse the system.Again I ask how many of you know someone who abuses the Welfare system? How many of you have a relative who is just plain lazy and won’t work, but receives Aid for illegitimate children? How many of you know someone receiving Aid who refuses to work at a fast food restaurant because he or she feels it is beneath them? How many of you know someone who has declared they will have more children to get more Aid, adamantly refusing to work? How many of you know of someone who received an apartment for $100 per month under the system to help them when they were left with dependant children, then moved out, perhaps with a new boyfriend, or out of the state, but allowed the—now adult—children to stay in the apartment, and raise their children? How many of you know someone who pays $150 a month TODAY for a three bedroom apartment while you pay over $1100 for a studio apartment in the same city? How many of you know someone who lives in a government subsidized apartment, and has two Cadillac’s, a plasma screen television, and all the latest clothes and sneakers? Unfortunately, I can honestly say that I have crossed paths with people who meet each scenario mentioned above. The point is this. The system was designed to help people get back on their feet after suffering a setback. The operative phrase being “back on their feet.” I am not advocating that we do away with the welfare system. I believe it is necessary to have a system in place that relieves our hard working people when they fall on hard times. Free rides were never the intention of the government. Tax payers work their behinds off to support people such as the ones previously mentioned. Personally I don’t think the government should have to work so hard to find ways to keep people from abusing the system. What ever happened to values and morals such as common decency and self respect? Here’s a personal story. Within a year of graduating from College, and still far from that high paying dream job, my student loans became due. I worked three jobs to make ends meet and pay the $178 per month. When it was time to file taxes, I owed the Government money! Meanwhile, a cousin who was receiving Aid for a dependant child had worked several weeks at a burger joint and quit, deciding that having a job was not for her, but in having another child she would fare better. She received over two hundred dollars in income tax returns that same year. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? One of the best examples of utilizing the Welfare system for what it was designed for was shown in the movie, Cinderella Man, starring Russell Crowe. Sometimes we fall hard. Use the help to get back on your feet, and continue fighting the good fight. When you don’t need it anymore, let it go. Let someone else who needs it use it. When the system is abused, we all suffer. People should have some pride and self-respect and want to be able to make their own way in the world without riding for free on the backs of others.
|
